


Unforeseen Circumstances

by TundrainAfrica



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Alex just wants to study, Brookland Comprehensive School (Alex Rider), Bullying, Gen, MI6 being incompetent, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25378042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TundrainAfrica/pseuds/TundrainAfrica
Summary: Post Crocodile Tears: It's April, the time of year when most students start salvaging their grades. Missions had taken their toll on Alex's grades and he needs to start salvaging soon or risk repeating the year. Nature wasn't on his side though and it turned out that his devil's luck had just run out.  (Cross posted with ff.net)
Relationships: Tom Harris & Alex Rider
Comments: 19
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In the process of cross posting all my fics to AO3. I got back into Alex Rider because of the amazing TV series and the amazing fandom. I definitely plan on writing more of these so I started doing some editing while I was at it.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Alex was once a top student. He was the type of student teachers would bring up during faculty meetings when talking about potential and bright futures.

He had lines of 6's gracing his end of school year reports and frequent one on ones with teachers who urged him to take extracurricular activities or to start picking colleges even at his age. He was well-liked by the student body and had leadership potential. He had also proved to be a force to be reckoned with when he first started training with their football team.

That was before MI6.

After MI6, everyone assumed Alex was a poor boy who lost his way after losing his uncle and succumbed to drugs. One student swore he saw Alex biking after Skoda, their resident drug dealer's car and it spread like wild-fire among the students and inevitably among the teachers too. Some teachers tried to reach out at first and attempted to talk to the young boy in between classes during the few days that he was in school. Most teachers decided though that Alex seemed cold and disinterested most times. When Mr. Donovan, their maths teacher, asked him about his first doctor's note which mentioned a flu, he had tried to press him for more details, Alex did not budge, insisting that it was only a flu and eventually he gave up.

The beauty of the British educational system is that it does not put much bearing on year 9. Key Stage 3 exams are purely held to gauge the standard of education for the important GCSE years. Because of this, Alex was promoted to year 10 with no problems. The unfortunate side to this was Alex was below what his teachers had expected.

As students get promoted, teachers also change.

Mr. Owen Jacobs, a young blond who had taken on the role as their new Science teacher and he had been interested in Alex's case since he had heard the teachers talking about his possible descent into drug addiction last term. He had tried to talk to him the week he came back after summer break. At first, the teacher had intended to keep his distance, watching Alex from afar, hoping the therapy Miss Bedfordshire said he was going through would show its effects. That was until he heard about Alex's disappearance during the school trip to Venice and decided some more intervention might help.

Their first week back at school after the trip, Alex did not show up. On the first day Alex showed up after vacation, Jacobs approached him. The latter looked like he was in a hurry. He was about to mount his bike, his book bag on the basket. The bag looked bulky, filled to the brim probably with books and homework. He knew Alex was struggling to catch up after missing the whole first week of class.

"Monday morning, I'll meet you in the faculty room before eight." Alex assured his teacher that Friday afternoon. "I'm sorry, I have to finish these plus the problem set you gave me." The way Alex addressed him was too respectful, too stressed, too urgent, a far cry from what one would expect from a delinquent or disinterested student. Mr Jacobs could not help but be surprised when Alex did not show up early that Monday morning.

He must have overslept. Jacobs thought, both disappointed and hurt that he was stood up by one of his students. Also, one teacher who had halfheartedly told him not to expect Alex to show up had been proven right. He was one of the many teachers who had seen Alex's potential when the boy first entered Brookland Comprehensive and at the same time, one of the few teachers who still believed that the problem with Alex could still be sorted out. He made a mental note to talk to Alex when the boy finally showed up to school again and give him an earful. Alex though, did not show up to school the whole day, and the whole week, and the week after that and Mr Jacob's mental note silently slipped out of his mind. Little did he know that Alex was in the hospital recovering from a bullet wound.

In the end, Alex had missed his whole autumn term, only showing up during the last week of classes to take mock exams which by god's grace and some luck, he managed to pass.

Only barely though. The teachers all thought when they met during the deliberation of grades. His grades were mid fives on an average. Teachers could not believe that he had scored level 6s at the start of the year. .

All the teachers had already given up on reaching out to Alex Rider halfway through the autumn term and had become desensitized to the numerous excuse notes they have received. Only a few of the teachers tensing in their heads whether the excuses written in the excuse slips were even realistic.

"It's signed by a doctor, so it must be true." They had all thought to themselves at one point.

Some teachers have started to treat his frequent absences and ridiculous excuses as a joke and made thoughtless comments here and there, especially when Alex wasn't there to hear it.

Miss Elder, their second year Maths teacher, had been the first. "See kids, don't take drugs. It's bad for the appendix." She joked when Jack had stopped by to drop his excuse note saying he was in the hospital 'with appendicitis.'

"Had a brawl with some of your 'friends'?" Mr Jacobs had jokingly asked when Alex entered the classroom in crutches after his mission in Nairobi and his brief hospitalization thereafter.

With grades he would have never allowed himself to have gotten years ago, Alex's future was starting to look bleak, to his teachers that is. Alex was sure that MI6 was just waiting for him to turn eighteen so they can recruit him full time. For Alex though, that was just a back-up plan and one he didn't want to have to rely on. He knew he'd probably end up having to do a few missions here and there but to have to dedicate his whole life to it? He'd probably go crazy.

His only goal then was to get a good college, have the job security of a 9-5 desk job and in the later future, have a family. With that goal set in stone, Alex was more determined than ever. That determination was what drove Alex to take the tube to Liverpool street one Saturday morning in early April, to the office he knew so well on an impulse (not to mention, uninvited) after receiving his latest grade report.

"This whole year was a joke!" Alex said as he stormed into Blunt's office and slammed a piece of paper on their table.

"What's this?" Blunt asked as he scanned the paper. "Mock exam results?" Even the ever so stoic Blunt could not hide his confusion when Alex suddenly visited

"I only showed up for two weeks the entire autumn term, I missed my first few weeks this term and this is what happened."

"What do you expect us to do about it? You must have come here, waving your bad grades around our office during office hours for a reason right?" Mrs. Jones asked as she took the paper from Blunt and read through it.

''They're this low because I didn't get to go to class the whole of last term, also, the GCSE specializations I aimed for are also out of the question. All because of those damn messes, you force me into."

"We didn't give you any missions the whole autumn term, you managed to fall into those 'messes' on your own." Blunt had replied as he opened his drawer and brought out a thick file that must have been Alex's. "You missed your first week because you were playing around with Scorpia, you then got shot, recovered, spent a few weeks with Nikolei Drevin, a few weeks in Bangkok due to ASIS… You were back in school by the last two weeks before winter break… If you look at the file, none of these missions were given to you by us." Blunt explained as he slid the file to Alex who stood in front of his table.

"I don't wanna see it. I just want justice for all this. If you can cook up all these excuse notes and media embargo then you can cook up something which can help the teachers understand that I still want to specialize. I still want to attain A-C's , if not all A's, graduate and get into a good college. With these grades, I'm going to end up taking sixth form in Brookland."

Alex sat back down on the chair instead and sighed, recovering from his tirade.

"Well, where would you like to study instead?" Mrs Jones asked.

Alex couldn't help but notice a smirk creep up her lips. ""There are better schools out there for what I want to do." He explained.

"And that is?"

"Preferably something which won't get me killed."

In truth, Alex had no idea. It's not like you needed qualifications to get a 9-5 desk job. Blunt realised his dilemma as he leant forwards with smug look to his eye.

"Why are you so unsure of your future? You know MI6 will welcome you with open arms when you graduate." Blunt said, he knew Alex hated the job, he couldn't help but want to push a few buttons. He had noticed Alex's mouth twitch in frustration. Blunt's face remained stoic but he was chuckling on the inside.

Mrs. Jones was the more understanding one. She tapped Alex on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, the most we can muster up are the doctor's notes. We are the country's intelligence department not their education department. Your grades are decided by you and your school's system. What we can do now is leave you to finish this year. You have two more months to fix your grades and we'll give you this as a study leave. Good luck Alex.''

Alex didn't even mutter a 'thank you.' All he could think was how they even had the gall to 'grant him a study leave.' Technically, he didn't even work for them. He isn't someone who's obliged to answer and follow orders. They just find great ways to blackmail him and it manages to work more than half the time. Alex also had to admit, Blunt was right, half the messes he got himself into are messes he made himself and MI6 had to pull him out of. In the end, Alex had to concede. He had only himself to blame for his academic performance.

And he had to act then and there if he wanted to salvage his grades.

No more messes. He had to subdue his spying instincts. He picked the safest and fastest routes to get home to make it easier to resist temptations to chase after anything that looked suspicious. He spent all his extra hours (when not studying) sorting his academic self out, listing key topics to study, scouring the libraries for supplementary readings for coursework and begging for extensions from teachers.

He was absent most of January and February because of the issue with Desmond McCain in Kenya and his hospitalization thereafter. The informal assessments, they released over the weekend showed the results.

"So, what do you plan to do with this? Last term was horrible, you really have to do better now." Jack said as she returned the papers containing his school report back into the envelope. It was the Monday morning after Alex's visit to MI6 headquarters.

"They're not final yet." Alex said, cringing slightly as he recalled the three Fs from Science, Math and Physical Education and the other Ds and Cs. "I still have two months to bring it up." He couldn't blame the teachers though for those grades, they had no basis at all for anything higher. He only submitted at the most half of the course work due last semester.

Alex hated to admit but he was also failing PE. PE was never an issue until he selected it as an option for study, the science of it was lost to his absence. Although he was never there, he always managed to do well in the physical fitness tests his teacher made him do and in the final exams anyway since regular near death situations kept him a lot fitter than most students. That term was a lot different seeing as he was in crutches when he went back to school late February and it was only last week when the doctor finally allowed him to take off the cast. He was still banned though from taking part in any rigorous physical activities, probably until next early May (according to the doctor's note) and that was when final exams are to be held. Mr Wiseman their physical education teacher took Alex's doctor's notes with a grain of salt. He did not believe any of those sicknesses since Alex's performance during the physical exams were too good for someone who has been struck by every illness imaginable. Despite the doctor's note and his seeing Alex in crutches until only last week, he made Alex run the warm up with the class. It was a dangerous risk and the teacher could have been binned for ordering a child with a doctor's note to participate. He was fed up with the endless doctor's notes though and he needed something to prove that Alex was not as sickly as the notes implied him to be.

Also, the boy did not argue. Had he even said one word against it, Mr. Wiseman would have let him sit out but even Alex was getting tired of the lack of normalcy in his school life lately. With the unhealed ankle though, he found himself trailing doggedly at the back of the line, cursing the damned soul of Desmond McCain who had shot at him causing him to make the misstep that fractured his ankle.

Mr. Wiseman called him back to the benches after the warm-up. "I'll let you stop here because of the doctor's note but don't think you're able to get any special treatment because you're good friends with a doctor. Your absences have already done a number to your grades. If you feel like you still wanna fix it, I recommend you talk to Mr Jacobs, they're organizing the Science Technology and Maths camp during the long weekend and since there are a lot of physical activities, students will also be getting incentives from the PE department. Don't let me down. You used to be better than this. I know you're better than this."

Alex nodded and muttered an apology. He hurried to the faculty. His classmates were still running the assigned laps so he had enough time to go to the faculty room and talk to Sir Jacobs.

"I heard about the camp…" Alex said. He wanted to say more but at that moment when his teacher made his way in front of him, he remembered that he had promised to meet him and talk about his disappearance in Venice during the start of last term and the meeting never happened.

"Yeah, it's this weekend in Bath city. You're planning on joining? It's a great way to bring up your grades." Mr. Jacobs said, his voice casual. He didn't look like he remembered their conversation months ago.

Alex nodded, started to feel more and more relaxed by the second.

Mr. Jacobs gestured for Alex to follow him inside the faculty room to his desk. He turned on his laptop and opened an excel file with everyone's grades.

Alex watched nervously as he inputted several numbers and watched the letters beside it shift from a C to a C+ then a B with every number Mr. Jacobs changed. Focusing on the changing letters was enough to give Alex a bout of anxiety. Funny how numbers could have that much of an effect on him.

"I'm glad to know you're making the effort to fix your grades. Listen, I'll give another incentive just for you. Usually, if one group wins the overall prize, and I add an extra 20 points to their coursework score. . I'll give you fifty points if you win, enough for a B or B + as your final grade for science for this year. You lose but participate and I'll give you 20 points, enough for a C or C+."

"Sign me and Tom up for that." Alex said, as he started to plan how he would convince Tom to join him.

The Science Technology and Maths camp was held at the end of every school year, a chance for the students to bring up their final grades by using the ouputs to cancel out lower rated course work and in Alex's case, unsubmitted coursework. Of course, it was also held to foster their love for Science, but that is usually left unmentioned by students. The STM camp was a well-known tradition exclusive to Brookland that the other students would always mention but Alex never got around to considering whether he wanted to join or not. He was absent during the sign up period and the camp itself, his excuse a bad case of the flu. The real reason was at the same time the students were actually going through camp activities, Alex was snowboarding down the ski alps in Switzerland, running away from crazy people who were threatening to dissect him.

He needed to join the camp this year more than ever and he needed a friendly face with him. He found himself looking for the right words to convince Tom to join him while they were on the tube, back to his house in Chelsea.

When the doctor mentioned minimal physical activity, he had also advised against Alex riding his bike to school to minimize physical exertion. It was a frustration at first. The first week back to school, Jack had insisted they take a cab. Twelve pounds per ride was a lot of money that could've been spent elsewhere. That coupled with the embarrassment of being dropped off in school every day and picked up was enough leverage for Alex to argue against that and win.

He was still in crutches the week after so riding a bike and walking were still out of the question. Alex and Jack finally agreed after an argument over breakfast that Alex could take the tube from Sloane Square to his school district and back. There was no need to change trains and Alex, to his embarrassment, was always given the priority seat. His route to school was doctor and Jack-approved and that was the most important part.

Even with his crutches off, Jack insisted he continued taking the tube.

"Wait until the doctor gives you the go signal." She said, every time he brought up creaky bike and muscles that could atrophy at any moment.

Tom, who sympathized with Alex, would come home with him most days, knowing the latter found the tube a boring alternative to riding the bike every day. That day, he noticed Alex looked almost relieved to be taking the tube.

"Your ankle's hurting isn't it?"

Alex nodded silently. He never liked being coddled or even just someone asking about his injuries, especially those he got when on missions.

"He shouldn't have let you run that."

"I agreed to run it Tom, you should have seen my report. They predicted a flat F for Science, Math and PE."

"Shit. Even PE is taking the brunt of your absences. You deserve an A in PE for what you're doing on missions."

"Tell that to Mr Wiseman, you're his favorite student." Alex said, not bothering to hide the slight bitterness in his voice. Mr Wiseman also coached the football team and Tom was one of the better players in their school team so it was only natural that the coach would grow to like him. Alex had trained with them multiple times with the intention of making the first string, with the constant absences though, he never had the chance and probably never would in the future. He would have wanted to try out again during that term but going back to school in crutches had already put a damper on his plans.

"Well, the STM camp is coming up. Mr Wiseman said he'll be giving away bonus points for PE this year. Maybe you should consider signing up."

"That's exactly what I was thinking of doing. Sign-ups are until tomorrow. Do you plan on going?"

It's the moment of truth or I'm only going to have until tomorrow morning to force Tom into joining that stupid camp with me. Alex thought. Joining the STM camp was an appealing thought for most grade conscious students. It guaranteed an A in coursework plus extra points for winners. The problem was, it was usually held during the height of the rainy season. Outdoor activities, science and math problems and hard rains were only a great combination for the most adventurous, the nerdiest and the most grade conscious.

Alex only identified with the third adjective. Alex was not particularly enthusiastic about how the world works and MI6 and his uncle had already supplied him with enough adventure to last a lifetime. As he thought about the camp in the tube, he realized that under most circumstances, meaning if he never got into that mess with MI6 and was getting the grades he usually got, he would have never considered joining the camp and would just suck it up, study and take the long tests and final exams. This was no ordinary circumstance though and he was hoping Tom got the message.

"You've got to be kidding me." Tom said as he noticed the long stare Alex had been giving him for almost a minute already.

"You wouldn't want me to be living in your basement cause I couldn't find a job… Right?"

Tom sighed. He was going to be missing soccer training that weekend and one day of class if he decided to join the camp. He was supposed to use that point to argue then he realized that those complaints pale in comparison to what Alex had been going through the past year.

A few minutes later, he found himself agreeing after he was also reminded of his own grades that could use some shaping up. He also looked back at his own household, which was still loud with the sound of his parents fighting. They did not live together anymore but still spent a lot of time on the phone with each other arguing over divorce procedures and past agreements. He probably needed a break from that too.

"Throw in a tin of Ben's Cookies and we have a deal." Tom added as they stepped out of the train.


	2. Teammates

It was already routine to wake up to pans banging, utensils clanging, the stove whirring and Jack calling to him from downstairs to get ready for school. Most days he would methodically go through his morning routine, preparing for his day with no problem. That day though, Alex could not help but pull the pillow over his head and close his eyes a little tighter in a vain attempt to go back to sleep. He was dizzy, nauseous, tired and in pain. It was the day he was supposed to redeem himself and he was utterly sick.

"Come on, you can't ditch Tom. I went all the way to Soho to buy these cookies for him." He heard footsteps then Jack's voice. She was entering the room and any moment she would turn on the lights.

"I would have gone to get it if I could."

Alex braced himself for the glare, curling up a little tighter under the blanket and clutching his stomach which at that moment was cramping incessantly. The pain started off as a small ache last night, similar to what one would get from overeating and his headache was something he easily shrugged off back then. That morning, they had both grown to become their own monsters and Alex found himself wondering whether the camp was worth going to or not.

It'll save you from a lot of discomfort in the future if you just suck it up now. Alex thought to himself as he doggedly pushed himself up, keeping his head down. With how he was feeling, Alex wouldn't be surprised if he found out he was running a temperature too. Jack would for sure notice if she put a hand to his forehead.

Knowing her, she would convince Alex to stay home. Knowing himself, he might end up complying. Alex had to make sure she never got the hint. He had to suck up the pain and play healthy.

"Coming!" Alex felt like he wanted to throw up just yelling that word loud enough for Jack to hear.

He slipped on a sweatshirt and changed from shorts to a pair of jogging pants. His cheeks were starting to burn, the heat almost unnatural. He looked to the mirror to see his cheeks were flushed with what may be a fever and his eye bags were prominent. He pulled the hood over his face, low enough for the shade to cover the upper part of his face. It was early in the morning, Jack might think he was just a bit tired. As long as he answered all her questions, or at least forced himself too, Jack wouldn't ask too much.

And that was what he did. Luckily, Jack didn't ask too much, instead, she did most of the talking. First, it was the scolding for letting his grades get too low, then it was cursing MI6 for letting him fall that low then advice on how to bring up his grades after that disaster of a year and term.

Alex nodded in most parts, ignoring his head that would ache in protest as he did. He made sure to put up an argument in some parts. If he were too quiet, Jack would point it out and he couldn't afford to fight her over that.

They could not have arrived at Victoria coach station any faster.

Jack had left them as soon as she saw Tom. She motioned to give Alex a hug, Alex put his hoodie a little lower and pulled away quickly

"We're gonna be late." He said almost abrasively. "I'll be careful."

With that, they said their goodbyes.

He might have hurt Jack with the sudden coldness but he understood that it was the lesser of two evils in his book.

"Alright, gather around!" Mr Jacobs said over the megaphone soon after he was left alone with Tom. "We're taking the bus right outside to Bath city. The trip is two hours long so I recommend you relieve yourselves now. You may leave your luggage here, the driver will store it in the luggage compartment for you."

As Tom left to go to bathroom, Alex couldn't help but remember the last time he had been to Bath. He had stolen a USB containing the codes needed to destroy whole countries from billionaire Damian Cray. The man had kidnapped Sabina and the chase led Alex to take the train to Bath station. He shook his head. That was more than a year ago Alex, move on, it's your education you should be thinking about now.

He watched closely as the students chatted excitedly among themselves, others looked like they were congregating. A lot of the older students were not first timers and were probably as desperate as Alex for the extra points. He was probably one of the only students who had no idea what to expect in the camp. That already put him at a major disadvantage. He was sure Tom would be on his side but Tom was not very reliable when it came to anything related to academics, his physical abilities rivaled those of Alex though and Alex was sure he could outrun, outswim and outclimb a lot, if not all of the participants if he were in top shape.

With his recently fractured ankle though, he couldn't risk being overconfident. Some of the students were staring at him, Alex could've sworn that there were some students grinning at him like wildcats, like he would be their first prey in the camp and they were ready to pounce at any moment. He tried to eavesdrop on a few conversations as he leaned on the wall waiting for Tom to come back from the bathroom.

With his throbbing headache, the only conversation he was able to pick up was about one student who got rushed to the hospital that one year due to a broken leg caused by a landslide and it was not helping his nerves at all.

What am I getting into… Alex thought as he tightened his grip on his backpack.

"Want one?"

Alex looked to his side to see Tom, pushing the tin of cookies he had given him a while ago too close to his face. That action was enough to break Alex's concentration. He felt a wave of nausea wash over him and his stomach was throbbing in protest. Alex sighed and clutched his stomach.

It hadn't improved at all.

It may actually be getting worse and Alex felt a little more doubtful. Tom would kill him though if he ditched and more importantly, he would hate himself if he ended the year with dismal grades and a fate as a sixth form student in Brookland out of necessity. Alex was not a narcissist but he still knew he was smarter than that.

The only way to make sure that the latter would not even be a possibility was to go the camp get the extra points and have a comfortable cushion for exams. With that in mind, Alex had decided to grin and bear the pain. The down side was the pain hadn't disappeared yet. On the bright side, it was dull enough to be manageable. Also, Alex had a very high pain tolerance (made higher by his frequent missions and injuries) that he was actually able to block off most of the pain. Nausea and stomach aches were sometimes associated with lack of sleep, stress and fatigue that was exactly what Alex was thinking or at least trying to convince himself when he felt that bout of sickness. Besides, he never got sick. He probably just needs some sleep.

And that was exactly what he did in the bus. As soon as he settled on the window seat in the bus, Tom on the aisle seat beside him, Alex leaned on the window and closed his eyes. The next thing he felt was someone shaking him awake and the beginnings of a worse headache.

Or is it a migraine. Alex thought as he shut his eyes tighter.

"I'm awake, stop shaking me." Alex snapped, regretting it immediately after as even raising his voice was painful.

"Are you okay? You're looking a little pale."

Alex forced his eyes open. The sunlight streaming through the window was glaring and Alex could not help but shut his eyes once again. The nap he had did nothing but make him feel worse. He listened to the footsteps as the students got off the bus. He heard excited murmurs, some whispers but Alex couldn't bring himself to eavesdrop on them. Though he was a spy and could easily make out what the whispers meant, the migraine was too overwhelming and it was already taxing for him to prepare to leave the bus.

"Lets wait for everyone to get off," Alex said, his voice low. He had tried to raise it but with how he felt, he could only manage a whisper without aggravating his head and his stomach.

"Alex… Are you really okay?"

Alex had felt what he was leaning on move. He only noticed then that half way through the trip, he had shifted to leaning on Tom's shoulder, an alternative he had to admit that was better than the cold hard window. That was until he felt Tom's hand on his forehead then heard a low gasp. He must be as hot as he felt.

"You tell the teachers I have a temperature and I swear you will be wearing a skirt everyday till next month ." Alex said. He heard rustling beside him as the shoulder he was leaning on started to move. He then heard the pop of what sounded like a small box being opened.

He painstakingly opened his eyes to see Tom holding a water bottle in front of him and what looked to be a familiar orange pill.

"Take one, it might help."

Alex knew exactly what that was. Jack had given him similar medicines the few times he got sick. It lowered fevers and worked as a painkiller

"Why do you have this?"

"My parents insisted I bring it. They like us being prepared when it comes to outdoor excursions. And it is coming in handy right now. "

Alex smiled in thanks. "I just have to last three days then as soon as we get home, I'll rest," He assured. He popped the pill into his mouth, dry swallowing it.

Tom did not bother to hide the worry in his face. "Keep the box, take the pill every four hours. It will help keep the fever down."

"Just keep it, Tom. I'll ask you for one more later." He pushed the box back to Tom. He was glad that his friend didn't argue. He didn't want to explain that the only reason he didn't accept the medicine was because he didn't want to waste any more energy putting it inside his bag or his pocket and he was sure energy was already becoming a scarce resource inside him.

 _What's happening to me…_ Alex thought as he closed his eyes. He heard the last few students get down from the bus and he knew he'd have to get off soon too. He reached for Tom's arm (or at least he hoped it was his arm) and lightly squeezed it, hoping Tom understood the message. He would need support getting off the bus while hiding the fact that he wasn't feeling too well.

"Everyone's out now, let's stand up."

Alex felt Tom's hand on his shoulder, supporting him as he stood up. He kept one hand on the chair top as he stood up. His head felt like a dumbbell was surgically implanted inside it and his arms and legs felt like lead. He opened his eyes. "How do I look?"

"Peachy. The medicine should bring the fever down though. Just try your best to act natural."

"Easy for you to say," He whispered as he discreetly leaned on Tom for support as they got down from the bus. He looked to the bus driver who looked too immersed in a crossword puzzle to notice anything wrong with him. He was praying that everyone in camp would be just as dense.

You just need to last 72 hours here. You've experienced worse in missions. This should be nothing.

**Unforeseen Circumstances**

The summer house they chose for the camp was big, almost comparable in size to the Damian Cray's summer house. It wasn't as elegant for sure but it was cute and quaint, a lot like what one would expect from a place like Bath. It resembled most farm houses with big yards and a nice view of the nearby city and enough forest to encourage him to take daily morning walks.

Voluntary morning walks. Alex thought to himself as he listened to Mr Jacobs introduction of the area, more specifically, the mention of 'highly encouraged' morning exercise. They had gathered in the dining hall, only a few minutes ago but to Alex, it felt like hours.

"You will be divided into groups of four to five."

Alex only realized then as they all gathered that they were only around twenty students and five staff including, Mr. Wiseman the PE teacher of the lower batch, Mr. Donovan, Mr. Jacobs, Miss Elder, a school nurse and someone Alex could not recognize who he guessed were house staff. He looked back at the students. Brookland Comprehensive was a small school so he recognized all the senior years by face.

He scanned the faces for anyone who he could tolerate being groupmates with, none of his teammates were there though. They were all, according to Tom, reluctant to join because they did not want to miss training. Most of the senior years were the more studious ones, those aiming for As in GCSEs. Some were probably looking to push their coursework up from a low A to a high A because God forbid, there is actually a difference. He recognized some faces of the upperclassmen who would jeer at him over his rumored drug addiction. He never learned their names though.

Alex guessed that he and Tom were the only people with below average grades who decided to join since most people with grades as bad as his wouldn't care enough to use extra credit to fix it.

From his class, he saw Christine Bridge, a petite blonde who was always called first when teachers announced the highest grades in the class. She was also very active in the debate and chess team, the expected personality type of someone who would voluntarily choose to go to the camp. Beside her was her close friend, Irene Llauder. She had that same look as Tom so Alex was guessing she was just as forced to go to the camp as Tom was. Those were two people he would be okay being groupmates with. The other two people from his class were the louder ones, Aryanne Copeland and Aaron Hart who according to Tom, were the most vocal when it came to jokes about him and his frequent absences. He didn't know them well but he was sure he wouldn't enjoy much as their groupmate.

"We will be having brunch from now and we will give you until 1pm to settle down and meet with your teams."

"How are they picking groups?"

Whether it was a choose-your-own-group system or assigned grouping system, Alex knew it would be a lose-lose for him. The pro of the choose-your-own-group system was that he and Tom would be together and that would make the camp overall a bit more bearable. The con of this is that they would have to stress over who else could be their groupmate since everyone else seemed like they had already formed their own clique. With the assigned grouping system, they would not have to stress over finding groupmates but the chances of Alex getting good groupmates were notably very low.

After a few seconds of nervous contemplation, Alex concluded that there was only one acceptable outcome that could come out of all this and that is if the teacher assigns groups and Alex and Tom end up in the same group through sheer luck. If Chris and Irene end up in our group that would be perfect. Alex smiled at the thought of the perfect case scenario.

Even just the probability of Alex and Tom ending up in the same group was at the most a 1/ 100 chance and he'll probably need Satan's luck to even have a fighting chance at his perfect case scenario.

One should also take into account the possibility that Alex and Tom will end up in different groups and Alex will end up with Aryanne Copeland, Aaron Hart and two seniors who all share the same negative sentiments about one Alex Rider. That luckily did not happen.

When the groupings were finally announced over brunch, Alex could not help but still feel that he had drawn the short straw though

As the students moved to the same tables as their groupmates, Alex and Tom went separate directions.

At first, Alex had been relieved to see Christine on the same table as him. All he needed was one friendly face.

His relief was short lived though. A few seconds later, Aaron Hart joined their group.

What made it worse was seeing two seniors approach the table. He would have been okay with any other senior. He recognized their faces though and could clearly recall the way they would jeer and mock him when they see him in Brookland. They were bullies and they were Alex's groupmates.

Monday could not come any faster.


	3. Medication

_Magis_ is a Latin world, easily translated to more or better. For many philosophers it meant "to do more" for the greater glory of God and for the service of others to form the ideal society.

For Nicholas Statfield though, it meant getting 13s on GCSEs, getting first pick when it comes to universities and being the best at anything he attempted to do, to name a few of his philosophies. Because of this long standing, strong yet very erroneous belief in magis, Nicholas, Nick for short, was easily able to discipline and motivate himself to achieve his dreams. He was always one of the top students. He spent his weekends winning debate competitions and tutoring less fortunate students and his weekdays either training for debate competitions or writing for the school newspaper. He also kept himself fit by going to the gym everyday since he had always believed that good body was equivalent to a good mind. _Mens sana in corpore sano._

His determination to uphold his Latin beliefs which of course was peppered with a little privilege (if not a lot since his father was a hotshot lawyer in London), Nick in simplest words, was handsome, smart and talented relative to the majority. Because of that, others either secretly envied his lot in life, looked up to him and wanted to be his friend, if not date him. This type of treatment coupled with his upper middle class upbringing kept him far from what was considered down to earth and those who he considered lesser beings were peripheral damage which came with the regular maintenance of his ego.

An example of the lesser beings mentioned above was one Alex Rider and Nick had made it clear since the rumors started that he had hated him and found it appalling that he would waste the education, the British government and of course the British citizens, him included, had worked so hard to provide for him.

"Trust me, get any child off of the streets of Africa and put them in Alex's place and for sure, they wouldn't throw this opportunity away. I am sure they would have done better than that druggie Alex and I would make sure they do." He had said to Aaron Hart when they talked in the newspaper room.

Aaron Hart, one year level below him and fellow writer in their school newspaper was the one who would update him about Alex's whereabouts and with every disappearance, Nick had felt his hate for Alex only grow.

Three weeks in bed with a flu! Trust me, if I were a boss and my workers asked for three weeks off for a flu, I'd fire them on the spot. This is ridiculous, he should be expelled.

Aaron Hart was the one who saw Alex biking after Skoda's car and he was quick to tell the whole newspaper club. The only thing stopping them from publishing that was their moderator, Mr. Bowman who had said that that was not 'wholesome news' and that may have been all a coincidence.

"Yeah right, no one would bike that fast after a the car of a drug dealer unless they needed something from him. If you know what I mean."

He was vocal about his contempt, making sure the teachers would hear it every time he mentioned the drugs Alex might be taking.

"Appendicitis? Stupid, they just don't want to say drug abuse because Alex would get kicked out if they did."

He made sure to put emphasis on the words 'drug abuse' and 'kicked out' as Mr. Jacobs passed by when he and Aaron were talking in the hallway.

Nick had already hinted at the teachers to consider Alex's status as an enrolled student in Brookland but according to Aaron, they still called his name when checking attendance and teachers would still ask about him in between classes and this news frustrated him. Alex had the work ethic of a sloth and by Nick's standards, he had no right to be in school and his joining the workforce one day would only be detrimental to the growth of their country. Being one of the better students, he believed it to be his duty to weed out the shit people as soon as possible.

Plan A aka hint-to-teachers-to-kick-Alex-out didn't seem to be working thus, Nick decided to move on to Plan B.

Ask any psychologist, professor, philosopher, priest etc and they would all say that bullying is bad. Nick though was a big fan of Machiavelli and strongly believed that , the end justifies the means and if bullying Alex would be doing England a favor then he would do it without hesitation.

Besides, it wasn't bullying per se. On the contrary, he understood Alex's plight as being one of the more feeble minded and he was hoping to open Alex's eyes to other opportunities and that school was not the only option. His friends and clubmates understood his sentiments and they all went to work to open Alex's eyes to the 'possibilities.'

One of the first was Aaron Hart.

It all started when Alex arrived in school in December, his bag filled to the brim with coursework, his eyebags prominent.

"Hey, my father manages a farm back in Devon, maybe you would consider working there. You don't need to finish school if you can't handle it." Aaron struggled to hide the smirk that creeped up his lips as he said that. That night he had also introduced the idea of hiring to his father, talking about some student who was struggling to pass even the easiest subjects.

"That's very kind of you but I'd rather try my luck in school first." Alex had replied, not even looking up from the textbook he was studying.

Aaron was also able to convince his friend Aryanne Copeland to push Alex to other paths. She as well, understood the value of education and agreed that Alex was not making the most of his opportunity to even be educated and had taken matters into her own hands as well during the start of the spring term.

They were distributing sixth form propectuses during the first week of February. Alex had disappeared the day after their field trip to Greenfield at the start of the spring term unsurprisingly.

Being the Class representative, Aryanne was in charge of giving out the propectuses. She gave out pamphlets to every single student. She intended to be less vocal about her dislike for Alex Rider at first, making sure to start simple. When distributing the pamphlets, she nonchalantly passed by Alex's desk, slipping a pamphlet in front of Tom.

"Just give me Alex's, I'll make sure to take it to him." Tom said

"You think he would have shown up now after that disaster last term." Aryanne sighed and looked at Tom morosely. "Getting this would only stress him out. I'll make sure to give him an apprenticeship form instead or a military one, but with their stringent health standards, he probably won't make it."

"Alex's choices are none of your fucking business."

Aryanne almost jumped. The last thing she had expected was for Tom to raise his voice at her. She turned behind her to see that a lot of her classmates were staring back at her, as if to cheer her on. She looked back at Tom and smiled and couldn't help but think if he weren't friends with Alex, they could have been good friends. "Oh? So you're going to wait until Alex takes Skoda's place? We're trying to prevent a disaster before it happens."

Aaron had told Nick about that last scene during their tri-weekly meetings and the latter couldn't help but laugh at Aryanne's reaction to Tom snapping. "Give that girl a medal. Are you telling me he still hasn't gone to school since spring term started?"

Aaron shrugged. "He was there during the first days and the field trip. The teachers were barely teaching anything though. I don't think those days counted for anything."

"His prospects are getting smaller and smaller everyday." Nick sighed, shaking his head.

"I heard from Miss Bedfordshire he'll be coming back by next week though. He's in the hospital right now, a very bad infection apparently and he got into an accident as well."

"The accident I believe, the bad infection I don't. I'm guessing he got into some brawl during a police raid. Sucks though that he couldn't get a prospectus. Wouldn't want him coming back to school empty handed." Nick walked to the file drawers, opened the top drawer and skimmed through the files and pulled out one of the latest newspapers. The school newspaper kept many of the latest issues for reference. "Tell me when he gets back. I'll leave a surprise more fitting on his desk"

It wasn't too hard for Aaron to find out when Alex would be back. When he left their club room, making his way to the exit, he saw Tom just outside the faculty room talking to Ms. Bedfordshire. What caught his attention was the mention of the name Alex Rider.

"Alex won't be joining the football team anytime soon...That's disappointing. I was hoping that would be the reason he'd start going to school again."

Aaron leaned against the wall that hid him from view, already aware of his breathing. He wondered if it was loud enough for Tom and Ms. Bedfordshire to hear from where they stood only a few feet away.

"He's been wanting to join since the last term. He told me he'd be joining training as soon as the spring term started." Tom said sounding as disappointed as Ms. Bedfordshire. " He told me he fractured his ankle badly. The doctors were reluctant to even release him. They only released him on the condition that he takes this week off of school. The earliest he can come back is Monday."

"He'll be in crutches… How long?"

"A month maybe? Depends on his physical therapist. I'm gonna be helping Alex as soon as he gets back. Knowing him, he'd be in hell."

"And his birthday's coming up right, it must be hard..."

Aaron had his information. He did not wait anymore for the two to finish talking. Aaron ran to the other direction, exiting the school through the back entrance. As soon as he got home he messaged Nick about the chat he overheard between Tom and Ms. Bedfordshire. He put his phone on silent mode back on his desk and started on his coursework due the next week.

The coursework had been hectic and Aaron had almost forgotten about what he texted until that Monday morning when Tom screamed. " Who did this?" from his place at the back of the classroom.

"Leave it Tom. Shit happens." It almost felt weird to hear Alex's voice. It was more serious and weaker than he had remembered.

Instinct and curiosity was what pushed Aaron to look back. He saw Alex sitting back on his seat, his crutches leaning on the wall behind him. He could tell that even just sitting back was painful for Alex. The first two buttons of Alex's uniform polo were open and Aaron could not help but gawk. Were those bandages under his shirt?

A fractured ankle and those kind of bandages. Those were injuries one gets in a brawl. Alex was not sick. Aaron felt his hands shake in frustration. Why did he go so far as to lie in every single fucking doctor's note?

The pages of the social studies textbook he had been studying crumpled under his hands and Aaron had to stop himself from causing any more damage. He willed himself to continue highlighting and writing notes in the margin but his mind was on Tom and Alex's conversation. Tom sounded furious so his side of the conversation was loud and audible. Aaron strained to hear Alex's voice though.

"We should at least tell the teacher about this. This is bullying."

"I don't think leaving a page of the jobs listing of the newspaper counts as bullying."

_Yeah Tom._ For once Aaron agreed with Alex. As far as he and Nick were concerned, they were doing Alex and society a favor but encouraging productivity in a drug dealer. He made his way to Alex' desk at sat on the edge.

"Education is only compulsory until sixteen Alex. If you hate school that much you're free to leave after next year. This is your headstart." He grabbed the newspaper clipping and hid a smirk when he saw the jobs Nick highlighted. "You can do casual leaflet deliveries, or work as a barista in Costa Coffee. The possibilities are endless." Aaron threw the paper back at Alex and walked away, making sure his back was turned. He didn't want them to see the snicker escaping his lips. Some others were laughing too and Aaron found that his own snicker was mixing with his classmates. Messing with Alex had become a class hobby.

If not a school hobby.

With Alex's recent injury, messing with him had become much easier. They would borrow his crutches while forgetting to give it back, others would accidentally bump into Alex in the hallways in between classes.

Tom had called them out for bullying a few times, only to be stopped by Alex moments later. There was no bullying as far as anyone was concerned. Alex was not pushed around, injured or ostracized. He was merely inconvenienced if not offended by the occasional banter and the way they would playfully push him around in the hallways.

Aaron along with Aryanne and Nick, had fallen into the rhythm of picking on Alex Rider when convenient. His main priority was still high grades though and Alex fell into the backburner like extracurriculars during finals week. Aaron still had to note though that Alex didn't disappear as much anymore. Because Alex kept mostly to himself, Aaron didn't feel much need to talk to Alex either. With the lack of Alex worth thinking about, his own hatred and frustration towards him died down.

By the time he saw Alex in the coach station on their way to the STM camp, all he felt towards him was casual disgust and derision.

His initial reaction when he first saw Alex,head down, probably napping, on their assigned table was a grimace but he was quick to replace it with a friendly smile. He had been playing teacher's pet long enough for that to become second nature.

Long time no talk, Rider. What made you join the camp? He wanted to ask, rehearsing in his head his friendliest voice. As he approached the table though, he saw two other seniors approaching the table from the other side- Nick Statfield and Bruno Orwell.

They were divided into groups of five. He was with Nick Statfield and Bruno Orwell, two students he got along with and shared the same negative feelings towards Alex Rider, and Christine Bridge, who was not particularly vocal or self righteous. That meant no necessity or no merit if he played nice with Alex for the sake of a more united group. With that realization, he sat down beside Christine avoiding all eye contact with him

If Bruno or Nick were as appalled, disgusted or offended, they did not show it. Aaron though, had seen Bruno's quick flinch at seeing Alex in their table.

"Interesting group we got here." Nick grinned as he patted Aaron on the back pushing himself in between Christine and Aaron. "And Alex, fancy seeing you here. You know this camp won't be able to pull your F to an A right? I really hope you did the math right."

Aaron had found the jokes funny at first but as he watched Nick tease Alex, he realized that he was not enjoying it so much. A part of him actually wanted to help Alex out. Maybe it was because Alex was not very reactive to it. Or maybe it was because somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that Alex didn't deserve it. He had been classmates with him long enough to know that he had been a good student once. He attended class before and always submitted coursework and homework on time. Alex didn't look like he belonged with the other druggies either. His eyes looked too serious and focused for someone who sniffed coke daily. He just looked like he didn't belong and maybe that was reason why he was harder to relate to.

Making an effort to relate to him, wasn't worth it either. He didn't want to deal with any rumors or ostracizing if ever he did decide to mingle with Alex or even make an effort to talk to him. If Alex was going to grow up to be a druggie anyway, how would a friendship with Alex benefit him?

Nick and Bruno were sure shots at the best colleges in England and abroad and had bright futures ahead of them and Aaron knew that staying on their good side was the most beneficial. Ignoring Alex was a small price to pay to stay friends with better people.

He willed himself to let go of the guilty feeling he felt towards Alex, instead, turning his attention to Nick and Bruno who for sure would be the leaders of their five man team. He wondered how they would handle Alex. It was obvious for him that Nick and Bruno hated Alex but was Alex aware of that?

That's not my problem. The important thing is we win. Aaron snuck a look at Alex to see that the latter was a little pale and his cheeks were flushed. _Is he sick? Then he shouldn't have gone in the first place._

Aaron couldn't help but feel a little more frustrated. The camp stressed teamwork and one of the components for judging was the proper division of work between teammates. They could have ended up with anyone else in this camp yet they got the dumbest and the weakest. Alex was only going to slow them down. He turned to Nick who was reading through the papers, the teachers gave out to each team. _How is Nick going to handle the extra baggage?_

He didn't have to wait long for his answer.

Nick looked up from the paper. "Today will be outdoor games, tomorrow the long race and on our last day sunday, indoor games. Most of us here are good students so for sure we will be able to contribute to most if not all activities. The problem here is Alex." He pointed the paper at Alex who seemed to be struggling to focus.

"You're not the best student so for sure you'll not have anything to contribute to the discussions which we won't be able to contribute already." He turned to the others. "My suggestion is we put Alex in charge of all manual labor. Hopefully it won't be too taxing for his sickly body" Nick said the last few words with poorly hidden contempt. Aaron couldn't blame him. No one believed Alex's excuses, and this was a perfect place to let out their own frustrations on that particularly.

Aaron and Bruno were quick to agree with Nick. Christine stayed silent but one look from Aaron and she nodded as well.

"And what if it is too taxing on my sickly body" Alex asked, crossing his arms.

"Then I go to Mr. Jacobs and tell him you're too sick to have even joined this camp. You'll be sent home and your GCSE and projected A level scores will stay as miserable as they are right now. Believe me Alex, we can finish this camp with or without you. Just do what we, your groupmates are asking you to do so we're all happy. " Once again, Nick put emphasis on the too sick and that was enough to leave Alex speechless.

Aaron took note that Alex almost looked guilty. His illnesses could have been a lie from the start with the way he was reacting. If Alex's illnesses were a lie, that meant that he would actually be the better choice for manual labor. Alex had been the dark horse during their PE classes last term, showing up at the last minute, only to beat the highest scores of his classmates in endurance runs and strength tests. Also, it worked well as retribution for all the lies Alex had made in his doctor's note.

It was a perfect group set up but Aaron could not shake off the feeling that they would end up regretting this later.

**UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES**

Nothing good came out of the group assignments for both Tom and Alex but luckily, the room assignments were on a pick-your-own system and it was two to a room.

After brunch, their teachers gave them time to settle in their rooms until lunch time, announcing that the camp would start soon after.

Tom walked side by side with Alex on the way back to the room. Alex was walking slower than usual, his eyes drooping. Tom had wanted to tell Alex about his own experience with his group but Alex didn't seem up for it.

As soon as they arrived in the room, Alex dropped dead on the nearer bed. "Tom, close the curtains. My head is killing me." He didn't sound angry or annoyed but there was no room for argument.

"Alex, you need more medicine?"

"How many times am I supposed to be taking that? Didn't you say every four hours just a while ago?"

"I'm just worried okay. You know we can call this off if you're not feeling too well. We just need to tell Mr. Jacobs."

"Nope, not an option."

Tom put his bag down on his own bed and searched through the smaller pockets for the pill box. "Just take one more. It's over the counter so I don't think it will kill you. It might make you feel better for later."

Alex sighed and sat up. "I guess one more wouldn't hurt." He took the pill from Tom's outstretched hand and dry swallowed it. "It's not so bad, really. I'm just resting up because I don't think I'll have a chance to do this until tonight." He lay back down and rolled over, facing the other side of his bed and Tom knew the conversation was over. Only a few seconds later and Alex settled into a more relaxed rhythm. He was asleep.

Tom carried his bag to his side of the bed and searched for the pill he had given Alex a while ago, it was oblong and orange but there was no name. All his mom said was that it was for keeping fevers down and a pain reliever. He settled on his own bed and googled the "orange pill, fever" to discover that the pill was aspirin, a familiar name.

He had lived with overprotective parents long enough to know that WebMD was a lie half the time with the common side effects for taking aspirin. What caught his attention was the forum post which came up in the lower points of one of the websites.

_Aspirin, as a sleeping aid._

_My wife has been…._

Tom didn't bother to click on the post. He turned to Alex who was sleeping too soundly. Alex had slept over in his house many times and the way he slept at that moment was too unnaturally relaxed and peaceful from what he had remembered.

He turned back to his phone and opened a new window. He clicked on the google search box.

_Aspirin and drowsiness._

He then, clicked on the first few links.

_Does aspirin cause drowsiness?_

_Drowsiness is a known side effect of Aspirin._

He turned back to Alex. "Alex." He said, his voice echoed in their small bedroom. Alex was a light sleeper and a voice was usually enough to wake him up. Alex continued to sleep though, the rhythm of his breathing unchanged.

"Fucking hell."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I actually had a hard time writing this, got stuck half way. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Do leave some reviews and feedback. Hoping to hear what you guys have to say.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think!


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